Abandonment Falls

RATING - 14.0

VR - 4.0 (Sm/M) HR - 1.5 SR - 8/20

TYPE OF APPROACH - Bushwhack

DIFFICULTY - Fairly Easy

LOCATION - Baker Lake Road

TYPE - Cascades

HEIGHT - 25'

WIDTH - 20'

DIRECTIONS - Drive east on Hwy 20 and turn left onto Baker Lake Road just past the Baker Lake Store. Follow this road for about 9 miles until you cross Bear Creek (unsigned). Park at the 2nd of two pullouts on the right side and start walking up the road. In about 1/2 a mile the road will become undrivable in a meadowy area. Continue walking straight ahead to a wooden footbridge over a tributary of Bear Creek. Instead of crossing the bridge, head left through the meadow to the old powerhouse. The falls are right behind it.

Abandonment Falls occurs on a small tributary of Bear Creek near Lake Shannon. The creek drops around 25' in several small steps directly behind an old powerhouse.

There are tens of thousands of these little cascades in Washington and I normally wouldn't bother putting them up here. I decided to add this one because it is a short side trip from the other, bigger falls in the area and the old powerhouse is cool in itself. This isn't a horribly exciting waterfall but it is very pretty and has good photographic potential with the right lighting. If you're going to the other falls in the area, you might as well stop off here as well. I named it Abandonment Falls after the abandoned powerhouse.

NOTE - I've heard conflicting reports that the area was posted No Trespassing and then that it was not. If you see any signs that the are is closed, please refrain front entering.